Thunder
by Ryuu13
Summary: OC story, zutara side-plot. discontinued for lost interest, Mary Sues, the show having moved on, etc.
1. Chapter 1

bThis is gonna be my first big avatar series!! There is some shipping in it, but its not the i_main_/i plot. Here we go!! Oh there is no HappyZuko, sorry. He's his normal angsty emo self! Oh and I think I left out the middle ring… oh well!/b

_iThe light of the full moon fell across the rooftops of the lower ring in Ba-sing-se. A shadow sprang from house to house, with the speed of an air bender and the agility of a water bender. The shadow landed in an alley and made its way into a shop. The light of the moon reveals its in fact a teenage boy. He quickly snatches food from the bins and climbs back out of the window. The only thing left behind is one black footprint of ink in the middle of the floor marking that Shadow has struck…/i_

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A girl in a simple green dress with brown hair in a half pony tail and brown eyes was walking through the upper ring in ba-sing-se, searching for a job, any job, even just as a maid. Her name was Nariko. After walking all day she decided to just sit down in the shade in the back of some shop.

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Iroh and Zuko had just opened their new tea shop in the upper ring, and business was hopping. Iroh was working in the kitchen while Zuko was working with the other waiters.

"Hey you! Get out of here!" yelled a worker out the back door.

"Who was that?" asked Iroh

"Oh just some teenager loitering around the back. Up to no good I suppose. She looked lower ring, though if she was, how she got in the upper ring I have no idea." replied the employee. Iroh got that curious/helping look on his face and walked out the back door leaving the worker baffled.

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Nariko ran strait into the next street. It surprised her that she ran, she not the cowardly type at all, living in the lower ring means you have to be tough or you wont survive.

_iI guess I was just surprised./i_ she thought. _iOh crap, where am I now?!/i_

She was lost in the upper ring, great. She was looking around franticly for a path leading to the gate.

"I see your lost" said a voice behind her.

She whipped around, getting into her defensive stance, her lower ring attitude finally kicking in. She didn't get out of her stance even though all she saw was an old man clothed in a fancy green and gold outfit.

_iHe's from that shop I was sitting behind/i_ she concluded

"I'm not going to attack you, you can stand now." The man said. She didn't move an inch.

"You're just like my nephew that way…" he said under his breath. She caught every word, though he didn't notice. The old man sat down on a box and motioned for Nariko to sit next to him. She slowly got out of her stance and warily sat down beside him, still not fully trusting him.

"My name is Mushi and I am the owner of the shop you just got chased away from. I apologize for my employee's actions. You look like some one who needs to talk with some one." The strange upper ring resident said to Nariko.

"Why should I trust you?" she asked icily, eying 'Mushi' suspiciously.

"Because I can give you a job" Mushi/Iroh told her guessing what she was doing in the upper ring. Her eyes widening ever so slightly was her only reaction. Nariko sighed going against everything she had ever learned in the lower ring and slowly opened up to 'Mushi'.

"My name is Nariko and family and I live in the lower ring. My family is my mom, who is sick, me and my 4 younger brothers. They're not really my brothers, we just took them in when they were abandoned by their old families when they were babies. My father left when I was a child. Now that my mom is sick, I need to find a job. There was nothing in the lower ring, I looked everywhere, so I decided to try and look decent enough to get into the upper ring to look. Everywhere I try, they either don't need help or they ignore me because I'm lower ring, a girl, or both." Nariko exhaled and a look of relief spread over her face.

"Hmmm…" said 'Mushi' taking in all that he was told in the past couple minutes.

"Well it's settled then, you will work for me as a waitress!!" he exclaimed getting that huge goofy smile. (_ib__**A/N/b**__ like in the 'Waterbending Scroll' when he found out the lotus tile was in his sleeve all along!/i_)Nariko took one look and the strange, strange old man and burst out laughing, something she hadn't done in a while. Mushi's smile got bigger, making Nariko laugh even harder.

"Can you start tomorrow? I'll have your uniform ready then" Mushi/Iroh asked

"Ok!" she said enthusiastically, jumping up from where she was sitting. "What time should I come?" she asked

"An hour before noon" replied Iroh, also getting up. "Ill see you then" Iroh turned and started walking toward his shop again.

"See you! Thanks!" called Nariko. She raced the other way, found her way to the gate and ran home to tell her family.

When Iroh got back to the tea shop Zuko was waiting for him.

"Uncle where have you been?! You cant disappear! Its _your _shop!!" he almost screamed

"I was just simply getting another employee for the shop. She starts tomorrow" answered Iroh smoothly as he walked away from his steaming nephew.

"What ever…" grumbled Zuko "…wait, SHE?!" (_ib_**A/N/b** _Iroh hadn't originally hired any girls, though many applied to work there.-I made it up/i)_

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When Nariko got home she caught her breath then entered her mother's room.

"Mom, guess what? I got a job! Its in the upper ring so I bet it pays a lot!" Nariko told her sick mother

"That's…great…" she said. clearly the illness had gotten worse, soon she will be…

Nariko left to start dinner. One of her younger brothers came up and asked,

"What happened today?" he asked

"Oh Mizu!, I got a job! It pays a lot too. Everything is going to be all right!" She said. Nariko glanced at Mizu and splashed some water on his head. His thin black hair was plastered to his face.

"Hey!!" he said and then stomped off to dry his head. Nariko burst out laughing and then turned back to dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

_Nariko left her house the next morning to go to work. She was still wearing her green dress, as it was her only decent thing to wear. As she was walking down the main path, she said to no one, as it seemed,_

"_You can come out now; I know you're following me." Three figures moved out of the shadows into the light, and beside Narkio._

"_What do you want?" she calmly asked the 3 teenage boys. One was large with brown hair the other small also with brown hair and the third, tall muscular and golden hair._

"_Why we were just coming to confirm the rumors, have you really gotten a job in the upper ring?" asked the leader_

"_If I have its none of your business." she replied._

"_Oh come on Nariko, give us the details" the leader said putting his arm around Nariko's shoulders. She stared at it with disgust like it was a dead moose lion._

"_Get off of me Leo!" She practically screamed, shoving his grimy limb of off her dress. It left a mark…nasty. These boys were trouble; they are constantly following Nariko, getting more and more violent._

"_Marco, Cale, lets give Nariko an…__iescort/i_ to the front gate" He said to the others as they surrounded Nariko pushing her into an alley.

"Hey! Get away from me!" she yelled trying to push her way out, a plan already in her head.

"Not a chance." Leo replied

"Don't say I didn't warn you…" Nariko replied

"Ha! What could you do! You're a gi-" he was cutoff by a kick in the stomach that sent him flying. Nariko grabbed a broom from the nearest shop and got into her defensive stance.

"Bring it on." she said to Marco and Cale. They glanced at each other and then Cale, the biggest, charged at Nariko. She jumped over him, using her broom for help, then landed and 'swept' the feet from under him. She turned to Marco who had advanced on her and bashed him on the head. By now there were a few people gathering, for word had gotten out that three boys were getting beat up by a girl. Nariko paid no attention to them. She heard Leo trying to sneak up and turned at the last moment to bring the broom up from the ground strait into his crotch. He doubled over and she took that moment to punch him and shove him the other way. 

Nariko looked around, observing her surroundings. Her three opponents lay sprawled on the ground while the crowd watched. She stood up, straitened her dress, walked up to the shop keeper and returned the broom. He took it, still speechless. This didn't happen much in the lower ring, a girl beating up 3 boys. She turned around and made her way past the crowd and up to the gate to the Upper ring. Thankfully, the guards recognized her from yesterday and let her in with out any trouble. She nodded her thanks and made her way up to Iroh's tea shop.

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When she finally arrived she was a half an hour late. She walked in and the other workers were already getting ready for opening. She ran into the kitchen to find Iroh. As soon as she entered he turned from what he was doing to face her.

"Where have you been? You're a half an hour late." He said sternly.

"Uh, sorry Moshi, I ran into a little trouble on the way, but it was nothing." she replied. She didn't want to get kicked out of a job because of what happened. She didn't really know what kind of person Iroh was at this point.

"Are you ok?" he asked concerned. He had seen the lower ring and it wasn't always friendly.

"Wa? Yes I'm fine. Um, can I have my uniform please? I think I should get started." she asked.

"Of course, Nariko." he answered. Iroh walked to the back door, bent down picked up a white box and handed it to Nariko. "Go into the bathroom to change."

"Yes sir." she replied. Nariko made her way over to the bathroom.

"Lee!" called Iroh. Zuko finished what he was doing and came.

"What is it Uncle?" He asked.

"I want you to meet the girl I hired yesterday" said Iroh grinning.

"Oh spirits, Uncle! Will you ever stop doing things like this to me?!" just then the door opened and Nariko stepped out. The uniform was basically the same, but it fit her and wasn't as baggy. Zuko didn't show any interest. She was pretty, but he wasn't gonna fall head over heels for this girl is Uncle is trying to get him together with.

"Um, Hi?" she asked Zuko for he wasn't there when she went in.

"Nariko, this is my nephew, Lee"

"Sup"

"Hi" replied Zuko.

"Um, what should I do now?" Nariko asked Iroh.

"Oh! Yes, for now, you can wait the tables. When someone comes in, go up to the table and ask what kind of tea they would like" answered Iroh.

"Ok!" replied Nariko cheerfully, and started her new job.

"Uncle, are you sure we can trust her?" Zuko asked "She's lower ring, what if she steals the money or something?"

"Lee! You know better than to judge people by were they're from!" exclaimed Iroh "Now you get back to work." and with that, he went back to making tea. Zuko sighed knowing he was right. He was originally from Fire Nation, and their Prince at that, and you don't see i_him_/i trying to take over the world.

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It was getting darkish by the time Nariko finished work. She waved goodbye to Moshi and Lee and started toward her home.

_i Well! Today was hectic! I think Moshi was trying to match me up with Lee!! I love doing that to people, but I /i_hate_i when people do that to me! He's cute, but I'm not interested. I gotta admit, he could be a good friend, but he's so uptight all the time. Oh well./i_ Nariko reflected.

At this point, she was almost home. Something didn't seem right… There was no one in sight. No children in the street, all the shops were closed, it was dead silent.

_iOh no! Ohno Ohno Ohno Ohno!! Nononono! This /i_cant_i happen!/i _

Now, she was running as fast as she could, with out caring if people noticed her speed. Suddenly she stopped, frozen in place. All she could do was stare. Her house, her i_home_/i was in pieces. She slowly moved up to the door to read the notice:

**b****EVICTED DUE TO LACK OF RENT****b**

"No!! I was so close! I have it! This cant be happening!!" Nariko screamed. She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. She was alone. They were all gone. Even Mizu. She sat like that for a while until it occurred to her to look inside to see if any off her stuff was forgotten. She made her way into the boarded up house. There was nothing left. 

i_There's noting here!! Not even Mom's bed is left. Wait, Mom!! No. She can't be…be…dead._/i All she did was lay down, curl up in a ball and sleep. She didn't even think to look under the barrel.

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She woke up to the light filtering through the boarded up windows. She woke and judging by the shadows, it was her normal waking time. She sighed, got up and straitened her hair and uniform. She climbed out of the door and looked around, still blurry eyed, but alert. People were going about their daily business, not paying any attention to the 16 year old. She walked up the street, and to the front gate. Luckily the same soldiers were always on the morning shift, so the again recognized her and let her pass. She was right on time and the other employees seemed to notice her lack of enthusiasm. She got right to work. 

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In the middle of her shift, she was in the kitchen and she heard a noise out back. She grabbed a large broom and went to check it out. Little did she know some one was watching.

"What are you doing here?!" She asked Leo, Cale and Marco. The turned to her and laughed. She was in a fancy uniform, holding a broom. Not very intimidating.

"Don't forget I whipped your butts with a broom before!" she threatened.

"Yes but know we're ready!" sneered Leo. With that, Marco took out a rather well built spear, Cale wielded a club, and Leo himself pulled out twin dao (broad swords). Nariko barely let any of her shock show.

"You must be wondering how we got these, we 'barrowed' them from a generous nobleman." He smirked. 

Suddenly, all three of them charged, but Nariko was ready. She quickly snapped off the broom head, promising to herself that she would buy Moshi a new one. As they were getting ever closer, she shoved her broom handle into the ground in front of her, put all her weight on it and spun side ways on it, her foot connecting with Leo's jaw with such impact that the shock vibrated up her leg and made her flinch and he, once again, went flying. TACK, Nariko landed gracefully in a crouch, but unfortunate enough for her, Cale and Marco were waiting. Cale tried to bash her head, like she did to Marco, but Nariko dodged and it only caught her hand. She ignored the pain and punched Cale in the stomach. He doubled over but then Marco advanced. Nariko hit his spear with her staff and then brought it around in a circular motion, then knocked it out of his hands by hitting the opposite way she turned it. While he was retrieving his weapon, she turned back to Leo who was a few feet away from her charging at her with his broadswords out in front. Nariko brought her staff/broom handle onto his shoulder and THWAK, right into the side of his head. But she was hit in the back by Cale's club, and she dropped her weapon. She fell to her knees and was surrounded. She jumped up, punching Marco in the stomach, dropped and rolled to the ground to get her makeshift staff and to dodge a blow by Leo. She jumped up, weapon in hand, and turned to her opponents. They were in a strait line, Cale then Marco then Leo. Nariko did a jump kick , hitting Cale in the side while simultaneously stabbing him with her staff, sending all of them into a heap. She quickly jumped to the opposite side of them and put her foot on Leo's throat.

"Surrender or he dies." Nariko told the other two. They jumped up and ran the other way. She picked her foot off Leo, and shoved him with her staff in the direction where his friends had run off to. Leo got up and growled,

"This isn't over!"

"Oh really? I think it is! Get out of here Leo, before the Dai Li show up." she warned him. Leo got up and fled. When he was out of sight, Nariko sighed and leaned on her make shift weapon.

i_If they keep showing up I'll be out of a job for sure! _/i Nariko looked up and fixed her hair and uniform to look like she i_hadn't_/i just fought off three teenagers. What she didn't notice was a pair of golden eyes disappearing from the door way.

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The next hour or so continued normally, except that Nariko was still gloomy and angry at every thing. Nariko was dealing with a snooty, stuck up annoying customer and she was getting on her last nerve.

"What kind of tea would like sir?" she repeated for the 3rd time

"What kinds do you have?" he replied also for the 3rd time. Nariko sighed clearly annoyed.

"Jasmine, Ginseng, Green tea and Oolong tea." she replied trying to keep her infamous temper under control.

"Hmmmm… Can you tell me the teas again?" he asked. 

"ARAAUUGH!! You are the most arrogant, dim witted," Nariko was throwing her arms all around her in emphatic movements "snobbiest, annoying person in all of the earth kingdom!! If the fire nation captured you, they would let you go because they couldn't stand you!!" the nobleman had no idea what that last remark was about, for he had no idea of the war, like most of the upper ring. She continued with her ranting while gesturing with her hands. Little did she know, behind her on Zuko's full tray, the tea was moving on its own, spilling out of the cups and rising into the air and then falling only to be caught half way down and brought back up again. Zuko looked with wide eyes as the giant blob of tea slammed into his face, causing him to fall on his rear. Nariko gasped stared at him and then ran out of the shop, almost knocking down a young lady in blue, who saw the whole thing. 

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Nariko sped through streets and alleys trying to find an empty place. What she didn't know was that she was being followed by the same girl in blue. Nariko slowed to a halt and collapsed in a corner in an empty clearing, concealed by houses and bushes and cried. She cried for her lost family, her dead mother, that stupid war, Leo, her once friend for constantly attacking her and she cried for no reason. She sat in that corner for a while, her knees drawn up to her face, while she held her head in her hands. Suddenly she heard some one kneel down next to her she looked up, her face all red and puffy and asked,

"What do you want?!" she asked the girl in blue, her voice loaded with hostility.

"To help." replied the stranger

"Why should I trust you?" she asked.

"Because I can teach you"

"Teach me what? What could _iyou/i _teach _ime/i_?! I don't need your help." replied Nariko

"I saw you back at the tea shop and you can waterbend. By the looks of it, you have no idea." replied the girl.

"That's impossible. Don't you think I would've noticed by now?! Besides, I've always been from the earth kingdom." replied Nariko "Who i_are_/i you anyway?"

"My name is Katara and I'm from the southern water tribe. Are you sure one of your parents wasn't from one of the water tribes?" she asked

"My…my…my mom was originally from Omashu, and my dad…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say "I don't know about my dad. He left when I was a baby, and my mom didn't tell me anything before she…she…" she stopped un able to say it.

"Oh." replied Katara, getting the point. "Well come with me and we'll find out for sure." said Katara, standing up. Nariko sighed getting up, going against her better judgment again. Katara led Nariko to a large fountain.

"Ok, just try to copy what I do." she said. She turned towards the water and bended a small portion of water out, then back in the fountain. "Now you try" Nariko took a deep breath and tried to copy what she just did. The water rose a foot or two out of the fountain and then splashed back down. Nariko stared at the water with awe then sat on edge of the fountain with disbelief written all over her face.

"What now?" she asked katara.

"Well, its getting late and I need to go, but meet me here tomorrow after you get off of work at…" katara trailed off looking at Nariko for help

"At 8:30" she replied

"Well I see you here tomorrow at 8:30!" she exclaimed. And with that, she started off down the street. Nariko sighed, got up and made her way back to the tea shop. By the time she got there, Iroh was locking up. Nariko didn't notice but just walked around to the back of the shop. She sat down in almost the same place two days ago, only two days ago seemed so far away. Iroh followed her and saw her just sitting, a look of worry on her face. 

"Do you want to tell me what happened today?" Iroh asked.

"Not really, but I guess I owe you and explanation" said Nariko "Well I just got so mad at that one customer, I bended all the tea Lee was carrying into his face. I didn't even know I could waterbend until a couple hours ago! And now, I don't know what to do! I lost my family, because we got evicted while I was at work and I don't know where they are, and I have no where to stay!" Nariko exhaled, once again relieved by talking to Moshi.

"I'm sorry." Iroh replied quietly "So you have no where to stay… you could stay with my nephew and I in our house." he suggested

"No, I couldn't intrude. You gave me a job and that's enough. I don't want to be a burden. I could just rent a house in the lower ring."

"No, you will live with us, and that's final."

"Moshi, no offense but I'm not two and you're not exactly my dad."

"No, but I'm your boss, and if you don't accept my offer, then ill fire you." Iroh said, forcing her to accept. Nariko sighed and knew she was cornered

"Ok"

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Iroh and Nariko entered the house.

"Where is your nephew, uh, Lee right?" she asked

"He is out on some errands" 

"Um, ok. Where should I sleep?" she asked

"Oh, you can sleep in Lee's room."

"But where will he sleep?"

"He can sleep on a couch, don't worry."

"Ok."


	3. Chapter 3

In the middle of the night, Nariko silently crept out of the window in 'Moshi's' house and descended the wall. She kept to the shadows, careful to avoid the Dia Li, and climbed over the wall separating the lower and upper ring. The girl jumped from rooftop to rooftop and landed in front of her old house. She blended in with the shadows as she entered. Nariko moved the barrel that used to be their water bin, and pulled up the middle floor board. Under it was a large box and a well crafted staff. She took both of these in hand as she made her way back to the house.

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The water rose into the air and just swished around, following Katara's commands. She was at the fountain waiting for Nariko. The young water bender concentrated on the water trying to turn it into snow. A tap on her shoulder made her loose her focus, and it splashed back into the fountain. Katara whipped around to face the culprit. Nariko jumped back at Katara's sudden movement.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Oh, I was just finishing up at work, sorry." Nariko apologized

"Ok, let's start where we left off yesterday." Nariko nodded as she prepared to try the water whip. Following Katara's instructions, her water whip was a success. Nariko beamed at the turn out; ecstatic she had finally gotten it right.

"Great, now," Katara bended some water out of the fountain and froze it to look like a target. She lifted it into the air and said, "Hit this."

Nariko got into her stance and shot the water at the target. It stopped and fell about half way. Katara looked back at Nariko who was yawning. She caught her self and her hands shot up to her mouth.

"Sorry, I was, uh, up late last night." she explained, lowering her hands.

"Ok, just try again." Nariko got back into her stance and shot the H2O at the ice target; hitting the bull's-eye and making it shatter.

"Great, I think you've got it." said Katara. Suddenly a thought occurred to Nariko.

"You know, I've practically told you my life story in the week I've known you, and all I know about i_you_/i is that your name's Katara, you're a waterbending master and your from the southern water tribe. Katara sighed, knowing her pupil was right.

"Fine ask away."

"What are you doing in Ba Sing Se anyway?"

"Um, I'm traveling with my brother and friends."

"Is he a water bender too?"

"No."

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen." Nariko was surprised at this answer. Katara seemed so much older.

"Have a crush?"

"Um, no."

"Mmm hmmm, i_Ok_/i. Have a boy friend?"

"Nope." said Katara sounding a little sad. Nariko had a brilliant idea. A brilliant, but risky, idea.

"Ok I have a BIIIIG favor to ask." Nariko said, turning to face Katara and putting her hands together. "Will you go on a blind date with my friend?" she asked

"Wa?! No! I can't…" Katara said looking, embarrassed.

"Oh come on, please!! All he does is work then disappear into his room, but he's great! He's really nice once you get to know him!! He's like a big brother to me!! Come on, i_pah-lease_/i!!" Nariko begged. The water tribe girl sighed, knowing Nariko would never give up.

"Ok, Ok, I'll do it." Katara held up her hands in defeat

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" Nariko squealed, jumping up. "Just wait outside the Koalaotter Café on the right side at eight tomorrow night!" and with that she sped home.

"Wait… where i_is_/i the koala otter café anyway?!" Katara asked the air.

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That night at dinner Nariko grasped the chance to tell Zuko about his plans tomorrow night.

"So… guess what's happening tomorrow night."

"What? You're joining the circus?" asked Zuko sarcastically

"No! Actually i_you're_/i going on a date!" replied Nariko smiling

"WHAT?! NO, NO, NO, NO!!" cried Zuko, leaping and spilling his dinner in the process.

"Too late! I told her you would meet her at the Koalaotter café tomorrow night at eight! it's a blind date!" she said triumphantly, standing up.

"Are you i_CRAZY/i_?!" cried Zuko

"Well maybe, but that's not the point. Come on! All you do is go to work, come home, disappear into your room, then sneak off in the middle of the night to spirits know where!" defended Nariko. Iroh looked up at this, surprised, but once he thought about it, he wasn't surprised at all.

"How do you know about that?! Asked Zuko, pointing a finger at Nariko.

"Oh i_come on_/i!! You make so much noise the North Pole could hear you!!" Nariko exaggerated. Zuko sighed,

"You're never gonna give up are you?" he asked

"Nope!" said Nariko, knowing she had won.

"Fine, fine!" Zuko said holding his hands up in defeat.

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" cried Nariko jumping up and down. "Ya' know that's exactly what she did. Ok, don't forget, eight tomorrow night, Koalaotter café, left side!"

"Ok"

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Nariko walked up to Katara with a blindfold in hand

"Put this on." she told her

"Don't you think you're taking the term 'blind date' a little too far?" Katara asked, putting it on.

"Nope. Follow me." Nariko grabbed Katara's wrist and pulled her through the crowd to a table.

"Ok stay here and no peeking!" and with that she went to find Zuko. At last she found him on the other side of the restaurant.

"Put this on." she ordered, handing him a blindfold also.

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Nariko replied sternly.

"Fine" Zuko sighed and put it on without another word. Nariko led him to the table and sat him down facing Katara. Nariko took the ends of the blindfolds in hand, preparing to take them off.

"Ok here we go! One…two….three!" and with a flourish, the blindfolds were off. As soon as the two enemies saw each other their eyes widened. Katara screamed and ran out, while Zuko leapt up and screamed in Nariko's face,

"You idiot! What have you done!" and ran out leaving Nariko center of attention and completely baffled.

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Katara ran into her house gasping for breath.

"What's wrong Katara?" asked Aang, concerned.

"Zuko…in…Ba Sing Se…" she managed, between breaths.

"What? Are sure it wasn't someone that looked like Zuko with the same - wait never mind." said Sokka

"Of course I'm sure! I went on a blind date with him!!" she snapped. After a brief silence Toph and Sokka erupted into laughter.

"You?! Dating Prince Hot Head?! That's a good one Katara!!" cried Toph.

"It's not that crazy…" mumbled Katara looking down. The only one who caught it was Aang.

"He hasn't done anything yet, so lets just watch him for now." suggested Aang

"Ok." agreed Katara; she had to shout it because Sokka was laughing so loud.

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Nariko was almost home, thinking about what had just happened.

"I guess they know each other or something." Nariko sighed to her self. When finally got to the house she was knocked out the moment she entered the door.

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As Nariko awoke a groan rumbled up her throat and out her mouth. Her eyes blinked open but then widened in panic. Nariko tried to scream, like any other person would, but couldn't. She was tied up and gagged on a stool, and Iroh and Zuko sat in front of her. After a minute or so she calmed down.

"We'll take the gag off if you don't scream." Iroh said slowly. Nariko nodded and Zuko moved over and slowly untied the gag. Nariko screamed but was cut off by Zuko shoving his hand over her mouth, making her fall backwards off the stool. With his other hand, Zuko slowly helped Nariko to sit up on the ground. He slowly took his hand away, but sat on the floor next to her incase she tried to scream again.

"You are probably wondering what is going on and why, uh, Lee, ran away tonight, don't worry we will explain." Said Iroh calmly, pouring tea into a cup.

Through out the next hour or two Iroh and Zuko took turns explaining everything from Zuko's Banishment to the North Pole, to Ba Sing Se and everything between. As they explained, Zuko slowly untied Nariko and she shifted into a cross-legged position.

"And that's all you need to know." Iroh said, finishing up. Nariko didn't move or speak.

"Hello?" said Zuko waving a hand in front of her face. Nothing. Zuko poked her shoulder and she fell to the floor, asleep….kind of. Zuko reached to wake her up, but Iroh stopped him

"Let her sleep" he said and as he walked to his room. Zuko got up to leave but hesitated. He bent down, picked up Nariko and carried her to the couch where she slept

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iShadow crouched on a rooftop, bow in hand, silently waiting. In the blink of an eye, he shot an arrow to the movement bellow. Shadow jumped down soundlessly to inspect the victim. The man was dead, arrow through his chest. He disappeared before anything could see him. The corpse lay there in the alley waiting to be found. The drip of the wet ink from the arrow the only noise. /i


	4. Chapter 4

Aang watched from the shadows, through their window, as Iroh Zuko and a girl were eating dinner.

iWho is she?/i ,he thought but then pushed it aside and kept watching

Iroh said something that made Zuko spit water out of his nose. The girl started laughing uncontrollably. Zuko shoved her and she fell over sideways, but then she came back up and punched him in the shoulder. He said something along the lines of 'that hurt' and she laughed again.

After things died down a bit, the girl accidentally knocked over the tea pot and while Zuko and Iroh were busy, Nariko shot Aang a glare that said 'Get out of here now.' He was so surprised he stepped back, and fell off the roof and into a trash can on the ground.

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Iroh Zuko and Nariko were eating dinner silently when Iroh said,

"So Zuko, do you plan on having a second date with the Avatar's friend?" Zuko spit water out of his nose and Nariko started laughing hysterically.

"It's not funny!" he protested, shoving Nariko. She fell sideways but then came back up, and punched him in the shoulder.

"Hey! That hurt!" Zuko said making Nariko laugh again.

When everything calmed down some, Nariko felt someone watching them. She 'accidentally' knocked over the teapot, sending everyone scrambling to clean it up. While Zuko and Iroh were distracted, Nariko sent the young boy a glare. Apparently he wasn't much of a threat because he fell off the roof and into a trashcan. When Iroh and Zuko looked up, Nariko quickly said,

"It's probably a cat or something."

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That night Nariko couldn't sleep so she decided to follow Zuko on to the roof. When she got there, he was meditating, so she decided to join in. She sat down with her legs crossed and began her breathing pattern.

center In 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Hold 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Out 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7/center

In her minds eye, Nariko saw her inner core, a blob of blue light with a strange purple sphere in the middle. Nariko dove into her core and floated in peace, staying clear of the orb.

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An hour or so later she broke her breathing pattern and came out of her sanctuary. She turned around to find that Zuko had finished meditating as well, and was just staring at the stars. Nariko copied and they sat like that for who knows how long.

"We were being watched today by a boy. Twelve maybe?" Nariko said

"What? Who?! Where?! WHY?! How do you know?!" asked Zuko suspiciously. Nariko panicked a little, she hadn't thought this through.

"Oh, uh, I saw him through the window. He fell off the roof so he probs wasn't that dangerous. Oh and he was dressed like a clown or something." she replied. Zuko looked at her like 'Oh come on.'

"What?!"

"You keep that secret pretty well, you know." He said. Nariko's heart raced. Which one? How? But she showed no surprise on her face.

"What are you talking about?" she asked innocently. Zuko turned towards her.

"You can stop now, I know."

"Know what?!"

"That you can fight, unlike most women in Ba sing se."

"So, If I can, how'd you find out?"

"I saw you fighting some guy named Leo or something in the back of the tea shop."

"Oh crap, you saw that? You better not tell your Uncle!"

"Don't worry I haven't" Zuko said, looking back up at the stars, "yet." he said with a glance at Nariko.

"What do you want?" she asked

"For you to show me how fight with a staff." he replied

"But you have your uh, bending and sword thingies."

"They're broadswords and if I don't have them I can easily find a stick or something."

"Fine so only staff?" she asked. Zuko nodded.

"Wait, what do you mean 'only staff'?" he asked

"Oh, nothing. Maybe ill tell you later." she said

"How many secrets do you have?" Zuko asked suspiciously

"How many doi you/i have?" she countered.

"Why should I tell you?" he asked

"Exactly! This way, we can trade secrets." Nariko explained. Zuko pondered this for a moment.

"Fine." he replied. "You first."

"Hmmmm… ok! I can use a staff, bow and arrows, broadswords, spear, my hands and my bending." Zuko was surprised at the number.

i _Note to self: don't make Nariko too mad. /i_

"Wow…um… I still can't bend lightning."

"Ok. I would rather live in a forest than here in the city." she said.

"Ok, I wanted a pet turtle duck when I was little."

"O…K… Last one. The only friend I've ever had that's a girl was Katara."

"Kay. I don't know if I want to stay here, or try to go back to my, um, nation." Zuko replied uncomfortably.

"Actually one more. I've never had a crush on anyone, and sometimes I wish I had." She sighed, looking a little forlorn. Zuko on the other hand was panicking. He could only thing of one more secret, and he i_desperately_/i needed to think of another. Or…

Zuko leapt up and made a run to the window, trying to escape being forced to tell. Suddenly he was in the air, hovering. Zuko's body was glowing… purple! He turned around in mid-air to see Nariko holding a hand in the air as if she was keeping him up. He looked at her closer and saw her eyes tinted purple.

"Not so fast. You owe me a secret." she said with a voice that seemed a little unlike her own. Nariko smiled and slowly brought her arm down to her side, letting the dazed and frightened Zuko back onto the roof. He stared at her in shock.

"… What…how…you…" he spluttered. She smiled and said

"Ah, but i_that's_/i a different secret all together! But you on the other hand, owe me one! And don't try and run again! I take this stuff seriously." Zuko sighed; he did NOT want to go through that again! Whatever that was…

"Ok… I think… I think I may have a crush on Katara."

"Duh! It's not a secret! Nariko exclaimed

"What are you talking about?!" he said, worried someone else might know.

"Duh, any girl with common sense can tell!" she said. It was true; some boys are just so obvious.

"Oh crap." he said holding his head in his hands

"Do you still want to learn how to use a staff?" said Nariko, changing the subject.

"What? Oh… sure." he replied

"Ok, stay here." the words barely escaped her mouth before she jumped off the roof and swung into the window. Zuko sat there for about ten minutes or so before she came back with simple, small pole staff thing, and a beautifully carved sturdy staff.

"Woa… Were did you…" he asked suspiciously

"I didn't steal it!" she said, then furrowed her brow in thought for a moment. "Actualy, I don't realy know iwhere/i I got it. I don't remember." she said as she handed Zuko the basic staff.

"Ok… What now?" he asked

"Don't fall off." and with that she started attacking Zuko, who blocked as best as he could. After a while, he got the hang of it and started to fight back. He was still not a master, but he caught on quick and soon provided to be a bit of a challenge for Nariko.

The sparred for quite sometime until their movements slowed, both getting tired. Zuko found a sudden burst of energy, and pulled Nariko's feet out from under her. As she fell, she dropped her staff, shifted so her hands hit first, then pushed off, doing a sort of back flip. She flipped off the roof, but quickly bounced back up, using the two close walls. Nariko and Zuko just stood, catching their breath.

"Ok… I think… it's a tie…" Nariko said as she fell into a sitting position.

"Yeah…" Zuko said as he sat down as well.

"You caught on fast." Nariko complemented.

"Oh, well I guess I learn through experience." The two rested for a while, still on the roof.

"Hey Nariko, why was that Leo guy attacking you?" Zuko asked

"Oh, right. He thinks I know something about Shadow. Leo wants to bring him down, for killing his older brother." Nariko replied

"Shadow…? Oh, him! I think I've heard of him, isn't he a murderer or something?" he inquired. Nariko leapt up in anger.

"No he's not! He only kills people for murdering the innocent and stuff like that! He i_never_/i murders, he just gives them what they deserve!" Nariko said rather loudly.

"So then you udo/u know something about him." Zuko said. Nariko sighed,

"Yes, I do, but I can't tell you, It's for your own good."

"Ok, but one more thing. How does he even know you?" Nariko stiffened; this was always uncomfortable to talk about.

"We, uh… We used to be friends." she admitted. "Then one day I let something slip and he's been trying to find out ever since. But each time, he's gotten more violent."

"Wow." was all Zuko said

"Yeah… Well I don't know about you, but I'm finally getting tired. Night." and with that, she disappeared over the edge of the roof, and swung into the open window, leaving Zuko alone on the roof, forgetting all about the strange power Nariko possessed that let her control people, and maybe more.


	5. Chapter 5

It was Sunday and the tea shop was closed. With the money Nariko had earned so far, she was shopping for new clothes in the lower ring, as hers had been confiscated when her family was evicted. The sun was shining, but the air smelled of rain.

"How much is this one?" she asked the shopkeeper, holding up a green dress with gold design

"400 silver pieces." he replied.

"Wow that's a lot!" she gasped. Nariko only had 200 copper pieces. She put it back and looked at the dresses on display again, when something caught her eye down a dark side path. She slipped into the shadows unnoticed and made her way towards the movement.

"Remember, tonight at midnight under the Cactus bar. And don't forget the password, mysterious stone of the night, flying, shining, oh so bright."

"Right."

And two shadows darted opposite ways. Nariko slid back into the main street, and started walking home.

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When Nariko got home, no one was there.

"Helloooooooo?" she called looking around. Nariko spotted a note on the table and picked it up.

centeri_We will be back tomorrow morning._/i/center

Was all it said. Nariko sighed and put down the note.

_i Now what?/i_

,she thought, then decided to put together a disguise for what ever was happening under the bar at midnight.

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That night Nariko looked at herself in the mirror. Her brown hair was arranged on top of her head, but to hide it, she was wearing a conical hat. Her breasts were bound flat with a long piece of cloth. Her outfit consisted of a loose shirt, a loose pair of pants and shoes barely visible beneath the pants, all Zuko's. Nariko made some last adjustments, and headed out the door.

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Nariko was walking through the crowd toward the Cactus Bar in the lower ring. Clouds were gathering in the sky, and a cold wind swept through the city, but Nariko pressed on. When she got to the Cactus Bar, she sat down, and when the Bar keeper came over, she looked him in the eye and recited the password she impressed into her memory,

"Mysterious stone of the night, flying, shining, oh so bright." he nodded and handed Nariko a red piece of paper. She took it and headed around back. She stepped out of the light from the full moon and into the shadows. She was terribly afraid, but appeared intrepid. She handed the paper to the figure next to her, who earth bended the ground open, and revealed a set of stairs. She descended the stairs and the opening slammed shut, leaving the warrior in complete darkness, wondering where the stairs led and if she would live to see the sunlight again.

After a few minutes of stumbling down the stairs, the small stairwell gradually got lighter and Nariko started to hear the roar of a crowd. Finally, the stairs ended and the hallway opened into a large auditorium, lit by many torches along the wall

"Welcome to the Black-market! Tonight's featured item is eight year old slaves!" the announcer's voice rang through out the chamber. After he was finished a man brought out about 6 little boys tied by the hands with ropes. He grabbed one of them by the hair and pushed him forward. The announcer's voice sounded again,

"Let's start at 300 copper pieces!" the amount got higher and higher until Nariko had an epiphany.

i _Its Mizu!!_/i

"100 silver pieces, going once! Going twice! So-"

"200 silver pieces!" cried Nariko, ready to blow all her money, and more.

"200 silver pieces going once! Going twice! Sold, to the young man in the back!" declared the unseen announcer. Nariko shuffled through the crowd, hat low, took Mizu's ropes and headed back up the stairs before anyone could realize she had played 200 icopper/i pieces instead of silver ones.

Nariko took the shaking Mizu up the stairs, clear of the Cactus Bar and into a deserted street to tell him it was her.

"Mizu, it's me!" Nariko whispered, removing her hat so he could see her.

"Nariko!" he cried, running into his sister's open arms, crying.

"Its ok, shhhh…" she held him for a minute before unbinding his hands. Nariko put her hat back on, and let Mizu on her back. She took off running through the lower ring, and snuck over the wall into the upper ring, which was difficult with Mizu on her back. Rain had begun falling from the darkened sky, as the moon had been covered by the black clouds. Nariko slowed as they neared the house, out of breath and wet. Very wet. And cold. She brought the sleeping, drenched Mizu into the house, dried him off and put him down on the couch. She fell asleep on the floor, to the plangent sound of the rain, still wet and cold, beside him.

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Iroh and Zuko walked into their house to find two strange sleeping boys. They stepped forward and Zuko realized,

"It's Nariko! But why is she wearing my clothes and who is that!" yelled Zuko, pointing at Mizu.

"Shhh! You'll wake them. Leave them be until tomorrow, I'm sure Nariko has a reasonable explanation." replied Iroh, leaving the room. Zuko followed, still suspicious.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Nariko woke up realizing she had fallen asleep in her disguise, still wet. She turned around to see Mizu asleep. A smile spread across her face, but then faded when she spotted Zuko sitting a few yards away.

"Who is that?" he demanded

"Well, good morning to you too! Tea? I would love some!" she said sarcastically

"This isn't funny." he replied with a glare

"Relax Zuzu, he's my brother."

"Where did you hear that?!" he cried, clearly annoyed.

"Hm? Oh no where. I made it up, does it i_bother_/i you?" Nariko asked with a grin, taunting the steaming (literally) teenager.

"Zuko, calm down. Let Nariko explain." said Iroh walking through the door.

"But she brought that, that, that I_thing_/I here! What if he finds out and tells someone?!" he shouted

"Ok, 1, his name's Mizu, 2, he's my brother, and 3, he's not a thing he's a little boy!" she shouted back, defending the stirring Mizu.

"Nariko? Where are we?" he asked quietly.

"Mizu!" Nariko cried and whipped around to hug him

"Nariko! Who are these people?!" he asked struggling out of her death grip hug

"Oh, uh, this is Lee and Moshi." she told him, using their cover names.

"Are you sure he's your brother, he doesn't look anything like you. And why are you dressed like a boy, in MY clothes?! And how did he get here?!" asked Zuko, still suspicious. Nariko sighed and started to explain what happened last night and that Mizu was her adopted brother.

"Ok, but he's your responsibility." Zuko said, walking out of the room. Nariko sighed; Zuko was going to be like this for a while.

"Don't worry, he'll come around eventually." reassured Iroh

"I hope so. Oh shoot! What am I supposed to do about work! I can't leave Mizu here."

"Hm… how about you take today off?" he suggested.

"Ok." she agreed, "Hey, where were you yesterday?" she asked

"Oh, I went shopping, and my nephew came along to 'watch the money'" Iroh replied with a shrug.

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Later that day, Nariko decided to take Mizu to practice with her. When they arrived, Katara turned around and asked,

"Who's this?"

"Katara, this is my little brother, Mizu."

"Hi Mizu!" greeted Katara. Mizu just shrunk back behind Nariko, who turned and said,

"Mizu, you sit while Katara and I practice, kay?" Mizu nodded and sat down. About 15 minutes later, Mizu yelled,

"Nariko! Watch out!" waving his hands around, making a wall of fire in Nariko's direction, causing her to duck. A fast moving object zipped over Nariko's head, and hit Katara in the back of her neck. Completely forgetting about Mizu's fire wall, Nariko raced over to the fallen Katara.

"She's been hit with some sort of dart!" exclaimed Nariko. She carefully pulled the dart out of Katara and examined it. The only word that escaped her mouth was,

"Leo." it was his dart, meant for her. She recognized it from when they were little. He had shown her one of the darts his brother gave him. Nariko turned to Mizu and said,

"Help me get her up." and with his help, they slowly carried Katara back the house.

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Nariko and Mizu burst in carrying the still unconscious waterbender. Zuko came out of his room to see what the noise was about, but when he saw Katara, he exploded.

"What is she doing here?! Are you CRAZY?!"

"I've answered that already, possibly. And I'll explain later. Where's Iroh?" asked Nariko, forgetting that Mizu was in the room.

"He's asleep. He can sleep through anything. Now tell me what in Agni's name is going on!" demanded Zuko

"Wake him up. We need all the help we can get. Ok Mizu, get 2 rags, hot water, cold water, and an empty bucket." ordered Nariko. Mizu got right to work, opening all the drawers and closets, trying to locate the needed items, while Zuko just stood there.

"Just go! I'll explain in a sec!" Nariko said. Zuko reluctantly went to go wake up Iroh while Nariko put Katara on the couch. Mizu returned with the requested objects and then sat down with his back against the wall. Nariko dipped one of the rags into the hot water applied it to where Katara was hit. She cried out in pain, but Nariko kept the pressure even. After a few minutes of that, Nariko squeezed the water into the empty bucket, picked up the second rag, and submerged it in the cold water. She then placed that on Katara's forehead to help bring down her growing fever. By now, Zuko had returned with Iroh, and Mizu had fallen into a deep sleep.

"Ok, will you tell me what's going on i_now_/i." demanded Zuko. Not looking up from what she was doing, Nariko replied,

"She was hit with this." shoving the dart in front of Zuko's faces. He took it and looked it over closely while she continued,

"It was meant for me, but I ducked because Mizu…" Nariko trailed off, remembering what Mizu had done.

"Mizu what?" asked Iroh

"Oh… my… spirits…" Nariko said, wide eyed. She put her hand to her mouth.

"I think Mizu's a firebender." she said, shocked

"Oh joy ianother/i surprise bender!" Zuko said sarcastically, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well I'm glad you like it, because iyour/i teaching him!" snapped Nariko, recovering from her state of shock.

"What! How?!" he asked

"I don't know, just figure it out!" she replied, both of them getting angry.

"Great, first you bring home some street rat, then you bring iher/i here, and now you want me to teach that thing!" screamed Zuko, his temper taking control. Nariko stood up and punched him in the stomach. He doubled over and she said,

"His name's Mizu and he's not a thing! And she's in a possibly fatal fever! Do you think you could stop complaining!!" Zuko straitened up and tried to return the favor only to be blocked. Nariko swung her foot around to hit him in the jaw. Zuko caught her foot and turned it a little too hard in the direction is wasn't supposed to. A loud CRACK sounded as Nariko cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Zuko let go of her foot and it hit the ground with a THUNK. Nariko screamed again and fell into pain filled darkness as Zuko stormed off into his room, leaving Iroh there with two unconscious teenagers and a sleeping boy.


	7. Chapter 7

Nariko woke up with a throbbing ache in her foot. She looked around and saw Zuko sitting a few yards away. Nariko opened her mouth to say something, but he beat her too it.

"I'm sorry." he said without looking up. She was silent. No retort. No comment. Zuko was i_not_/i the kind of person who apologizes.

"I broke your ankle and you have to stay off of it for 6 weeks." he continued

"Joy." Nariko breathed. "Where's, uh, katara?" she asked

"Behind you." Nariko slowly got up and limped over. Zuko got up as well and followed.

"Her fever's gone down a bit, but I think she'll be sick for a while." the older water bender said. He nodded.

"You sleep in my room, ill take the night watch." he said.

"Oh, uh, ok. Are you ok? You don't seem yourself." asked Nariko, concerned

"I'm fine, I've just been…" he said

"Ok… G'night" She said still a bit worried, but she limped out of the room, leaving Zuko alone with Katara.

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That night Nariko woke up, and tossed and turn for what seemed like an eternity. She finally decided to check on Zuko and Katara. She slowly opened her door and peered out. Zuko had fallen asleep on the other side of the long couch while Katara and Mizu slept peacefully. Nariko smiled and closed the door.

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Aang paced around the room, worried about Katara. She had been gone for over a day.

"Twinkletoes, stop walking! It's too loud!" yelled the blind earth bender

"Sorry Toph, Its just Katara's been gone for so long…" he said

"I'm telling you, Zuko captured her or something!" insisted Sokka for the billionth time

"He's got a point." said Toph. Aang sighed.

"Ok, I guess we could check it out."

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The gaang (- Katara) knocked the door down to Zuko and Iroh's house (Toph's idea). When Sokka saw the scene before him, he screamed,

"Get away from my sister!" like a maniac, which startled Zuko, who fell of the couch. Before he could do anything, Nariko hobbled in, leaning on her staff. Zuko leapt up and stood in a fighting stance, next to Nariko.

"Who the heck are they?!" hissed Nariko

"They're the Avatar and his friends." he said. Sokka came at Nariko with his boomerang while her guard was down. Nariko quickly grabbed his wrist and flipped him backwards. He landed with a THUD on his back. She glanced at the other two, when something hit her.

"Hey! You're that kid from the other night who was watching us and who fell in the trashcan!" she yelled, taking a step forward

"Nice way to blow your cover, Twinkletoes!" said Toph who threw a rock at Nariko, who ducked and then it hit Sokka, who was trying to get up. Zuko threw a fire wave at them, but Aang just blew it back with his air bending. Toph made the good under Nariko shake until she fell down.

"Why the hell are you here?!" screamed Nariko

"We're here to rescue my sister!" responded Sokka getting up. Nariko did the same and turned to face Sokka. She was taller. He shrunk back a bit, intimidated.

"If you're talking about Katara, she's in no condition to travel." she snapped

"What do you mean? What have you done to her?!" said Sokka, pointing a finger at Nariko.

"The only thing we've done is kept her alive! You should be thanking us, not accusing us!" shouted Nariko shoving his pointed hand away. The earth rumbled again, as Toph pulled up a boulder to throw at Zuko.

"What do you mean?!" Sokka repeated "What happened?!" There was a crash as the boulder missed Zuko, and smashed into the wall.

"Well if you stop attacking Zuko and I, I would tell you!" Nariko looked back to see Zuko, Aang and Toph still fighting, and moving towards the awake and frightened Mizu. Aang and Toph had their backs to Mizu, while Zuko was unintentionally pushing them back.

Nariko started to run to save Mizu, but fiery pain shot through her leg the second she put her foot on the ground. She winced and hopped over as fast as she could. By the time she got there, she turned to face a wall of fire coming towards her. Toph and Aang had dodged Zuko's attack, causing it to continue towards them. She grabbed Mizu and put herself between him and the attack. Mizu pushed his hands out and the fire disappeared. Nariko turned around to see only the backs of the boy and girl. Panic turned to anger as she reached out and took hold of the backs of their shirts and pulled both of them towards her.

"STOP FIGHTING!" she screamed. "If you could give me 3 seconds, I can tell you what happened to Katara!" she growled. Nariko let go of Aang and Toph and walked over to stand next to Zuko. She sighed and continued

"She was hit by a poison dart meant for me and because we don't have the antidote, she's in a possibly fatal fever."

"What do you mean 'meant for me'?" asked Aang

"Lets just say I may or may not know something important to someone else who is willing to blackmail, kidnap and possibly kill to get me to tell." she said calmly "No big deal."

Immediate understanding washed over Aang. By having knowledge, or being important, she was putting people close to her in danger. Sounded to him like being the avatar.

"Do you trust us?" Nariko asked abruptly

"What?" asked Sokka

"Do you trust us to care for Katara until she's better?" She repeated. After an uncomfortable silence, she added

"I give you my word, no harm will come to her." After no response from Zuko, who had been standing at her side silently, she punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Oh, uh, yeah… me too." replied Zuko

"Toph?" asked Sokka and Aang simultaneously 

"Truth." she replied casually. Sokka marched up to Zuko and said,

"If you do anything to Katara, I'll-" he was cut off by Toph dragging out of the room. Aang followed with one last look at Katara.

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Silence filled every inch of the house. The darkness of shadows retreated into the corners as Nariko lit a candle. It was her turn to watch Katara tonight. Deep in thought Nariko realized what she had to do to keep her new family safe.

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"UNCLE!" yelled Zuko the next morning. Iroh slowly entered the room, still half asleep. Zuko was pacing vigorously around the room, paper in hand. Iroh looked around, and noticed that Nariko was no where to be found and Mizu was in a corner, and appeared to be sleeping.

"What happened? Where's Nariko?" asked Iroh

"She left! And she left her brother! We have to find her and bring her back!" yelled Zuko. He continued ranting while Iroh managed to snatch the note from Zuko's clutched hand. It read,

i_Dear Iroh and Zuko,_

_I apologize for my sudden disappearance, but I have to leave. I don't want what happened to Katara happen to any of you. Take care of Mizu please._

_Nariko_/i

"Give her time." said Iroh.


	8. Chapter 8

Warning: slight cursing. (Ok just the 'h-word')

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Dim light filtered through the boards on the window, waking Nariko up. She moaned and rolled over onto her back. She hated mornings. She slowly got up and blinked a couple times, deciding what to do today. The wounded water bender crawled over to a single board on the ground and put another mark on it with a near by rock.

"Still have 2 weeks to go." she sighed, referring to her broken foot and how much longer until it healed. She placed the board down and rested for a second, when suddenly she heard a hissing sound.

A scorpion snake had crawled out from some shadow or another and was advancing toward her. The teenager was frozen with fear and her widened eyes were locked on the creature. The horrible hybrid slithered over to her and onto her calf. Nariko got really dizzy swayed a few times then fainted from fear.

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i Two children are playing in between shops. It's about midday and there are a few barrels and trashcans in the alley.

"Hey Nariko! Look what I found!" said a small boy with golden hair, turning around, showing her something in his hand. A small scorpion snake. Nariko screamed and ran behind a barrel on the far side of the alley. The boy walked over slowly, only to find his friend crying and trembling

"What's wrong?" he asked, worried. "It's just a baby scorpion snake."

"Get that away from me, Leo!" she yelled, her voice shaking. She swung her hand out to push his away, but she ended up just knocking the scorpion snake onto her head. Screeching again, she leapt up and ran around their play area waving her hands around, trying to shake the creature off, but alas, to no avail, it had wound itself in her hair. Leo was chasing her, trying to help, but she was running too fast.

Suddenly the scorpion snake was off her head, but in front of her face. Nariko yelped and fell backwards, onto her bottom, arms still up. The scorpion snake was glowing purple, and everything else seemed to be tinted purple from Narikos point of view.

"Wha… What are you doing?!" asked Leo alarmed, but still yet amazed.

"I… I don't know…" Nariko said, calmed a little. She lowered her left hand kept her right raised. She then scrunched her fingers inwards, so her hand looked like a claw, the hovering scorpion snake was then smushed by an unseen force. The young girl jerked her hand back to her side, making the remains of the animal fall to the ground. Nariko stood up, shook some dirt from her dress, but then fell to the ground, fainted./i

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When Nariko awoke, the scorpion snake was gone, so, still shaking, she crawled over to where her staff was laying, picked it up and slowly stood up. She hobbled out of her old house to get some breakfast.

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The teenager spent the morning sitting against a wall in an alley thinking. Thinking about her situation, and thinking about food. She snapped out of her daze when something was dropped down a couple feet beside her. She looked over and sure enough, some one had dropped a basket. She looked further down the street and spotted a cart, with a family and two more baskets.

i They won't miss one basket of food/i she thought as she quickly snatched the basket from the busy street. Nariko dumped the contents onto her lap, and was amazed at the feast that lay before her; two loafs of bread, a wheel of cheese, dried noodles and meat. A wonderful chunk of cow-pig meat. She shook her head to clear it, put everything back, except for a half of one of the loaves of bread. The urge to scarf it all down in one bite was hard to repress, but eventually it receded and she ate it slowly.

So caught up in her meal, Nariko jumped at the sound of a trashcan falling over further down the alley. She looked down it and could make out a single shape digging through the trash. As her eyes adjusted to the shadows, she found just a scrawny alley cat. Relieved it wasn't something bigger, or even one of Leo's followers, she tore off a piece of her bread and threw it to the cat. The sound made it run behind the overturned trashcan, but it came back and slowly stalked up to the bread and pawed at it curiously before eating it. The cat abruptly stopped and bolted behind the trashcan.

Foot steps sounded near by, as three older boys came into view. Nariko stoop up as fast as she could, just to be prepared. As they got closer, she tried to see if she could recognize any of them, but thankful, they were all strangers.

"I guess if you have enough to share with that cat, you wouldn't mind sharing with us?" one of them said stepping forward.

"No way, get you own food!" growled Nariko roughly

"Hm, I thought you might feel that way, Lee?" the leader said. Right thug stepped forward and snatched the basket from beside her, but in the process he got a thwap on his shoulder from her staff.

"Thank you for your generosity." the leader said turning to leave, but Nariko was quicker. She put all of her weight onto her staff, and jumped towards him, slamming him into the ground. She rolled off, got up, but left thug was waiting. He grabbed her be the arm as the stood up, and wrenched it behind her back. The leader got up, enraged, and nodded to Nariko's captor. He nodded back, and grabbed he other arm, so now she was standing on one foot, unable to move.

"You're going to be sorry." he said, fuming, taking a step toward her so he was towering over her.

"Am I now? I bet you wouldn't dare hit an injured girl!" she spat

"Oh yeah?" he replied, and stepped back, preparing to punch. Nariko tried not to flinch, but her accursed fear got the best of her, and she shut her eyes. He abruptly filched while hissing in pain. The older boy looked down furiously to find the cause of his pain, only to find the same alley cat digging it's claws into his leg. Nariko's eyes flew open and looked to the cat, silently thanking it for saving her. Her's captor relaxed the slightest bit, but that was all she needed. Bending her leg, Nairko threw her self backwards, slamming him into the wall, then dropping and rolling away. She leapt up as fast as she could and saw the 'leader' kneeling clutching his leg, blood flowing from in between his fingers. Left thug was on the ground, head in his hands, while right thug was advancing toward the alley cat. In the blink of an eye, the alley cat was flying through the air, and landed with a sickening crunch on the other side of the alley.

Falling to her knees at the sight, Nariko was shocked. Right thug looked pleased with himself as he dragged Left thug back down the alley, and the leader limped after them. After and unknown amount of time, Nariko slowly crawled over to the body. The scrawny cat's ribs and neck were broken, while there were still scraps of cloth, and warm blood on its claws. Nariko solemnly carried it back to her old house and buried the cat behind it.

That night Nariko cried for the brave creature that had given its life to save her.

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The next day, Nariko was very watchful, incase those three guys decided to return and teach her a lesson. Just to be sure, she moved spots every few hours. Eventually she found a place in between two shops that wasn't covered in shadow, and it had a ladder built into one of the walls, so incase Nariko heard someone coming, she could hop up the building and hide on the roof. The only problem, was that it was a popular shortcut.

"Every five minutes, someone walks through here!" she said, exasperated, to herself. One again, she was climbing down the ladder.

"Oh, screw this, I'm staying on the ground!" she decided. But then, as teenagers often do, she changed her mind when she heard heavy, running footsteps. Nariko scrabbled up the ladder, and lay down on the roof. She watched a group of men go by, none of which seemed to notice her. Nariko sighed, and stood up, preparing to descend when she sensed someone behind her. She whipped around, completely forgetting she was on a slanted roof. The only thing she saw before she started to fall was a blue and white grinning mask. Nariko shot her hands out, trying to find something to grasp hold off, but alas her hands met nothing but air. Suddenly, she wasn't falling anymore. She opened her eyes, which she had automatically closed when she started to fall, and saw that the stranger had caught hold of her arm. They paused for a moment, Nariko's heart racing, she could still fall any moment, as her feet were on the edge of the roof, and slipping!

"Pull me up you idiot!" she said harshly, out of breath. He recoiled a bit, then helped her back on the roof.

"Who are you and why are you following me?!" she demanded. The masked figure shook his head and pointed to an abandoned side path, six houses away. He jumped over to the next roof, and turned to see if she was following. Nariko hadn't moved, her hands on her hips.

"Um, hello?!" she said, holding out her foot and pointing to it, while balancing on her staff. She saw the masked figure sigh and jump back over.

"Can't we just use the streeeeeeeeeeeEEEET! HEY PUT ME DOWN!!" she demanded. He had picked her up and was carrying her in his arms across the houses.

"Ooo, you're gonna regret that!" she growled struggling. When they had finally gotten to the ground, he put her down, and Nariko immediately kneed him in the crotch. He fell to his knees clutching his middle.

"What the hell was that for!" gasped a familiar voice from behind the mask. Nariko gasped, shocked, then immediately was enraged even more, and thwaped him on the head, with her staff.

"STOP IT!" he demanded, removing the mask.

"I can't believe it! You've been ifollowing/i me?! For how long?! And why did you choose now to come clean?!" she screeched, furiously. Zuko leapt up and covered her mouth with his hand,

"Sush! Do you want everyone to come running?" he whispered fiercely. She continued to talk, her voice muffled, but hostile. He let go of her mouth, and she gasped for air.

"I'll tell you what's happening if you just ikeep quiet/i." he proposed.

"Fine." she agreed

"Mizu's gone." Zuko informed her gravely.


End file.
